1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates in a general way to a process for obtaining a layer of single-crystal germanium on a substrate of single-crystal silicon or, conversely, a layer of single-crystal silicon on a substrate of single-crystal germanium.
2. Description of the Related Art
Silicon (Si) is the basic compound of microelectronics. It is currently available on the market in the form of wafers 200 mm in diameter. The performance limits of integrated circuits are in fact therefore those associated with the intrinsic properties of silicon. Among these properties, mention may be made of the electron mobility.
Germanium (Ge), which belongs to column IV of the Periodic Table of Elements, is a semiconductor. It is potentially more beneficial than Si since (i) it has a higher electron mobility, (ii) it absorbs well in the infrared range and (iii) its lattice parameter is greater than that of Si, thereby allowing heteroepitaxial structures using the semiconductor materials of columns III-V of the Periodic Table.
Unfortunately, germanium does not have a stable oxide and there are no high-diameter germanium wafers on the market, except at prohibitive prices.
Si1xe2x88x92xGex alloys have already been grown on substrates of single-crystal Si. The alloys obtained only rarely have germanium contents exceeding 50% in the alloy.
Moreover, when SiGe alloys are grown on single-crystal Si, the growth of the SiGe alloy is initially single-crystal growth. The greater the thickness of the layer and the higher its germanium content, the more the layer becomes xe2x80x9cstrainedxe2x80x9d. Above a certain thickness, the xe2x80x9cstrainxe2x80x9d becomes too high and the layer relaxes, emitting dislocations. These dislocations have a deleterious effect on the future circuits which will be constructed on this layer and the relaxation of the layers causes certain advantages of the strained band structure (offsetting of the conduction and valence bands depending on the strain states: Si/SiGe or SiGe/Si) to be lost. Corresponding to each composition and to each production temperature there is therefore a maximum thickness or strained layer.
In some applications, the concept of xe2x80x9crelaxed substratesxe2x80x9d has been developed, that is to say Si1xe2x88x92xGex layers are grown on silicon so as to exceed the critical thickness for a given composition, but by adjusting the deposition parameters for the layers so that the dislocations emitted do not propagate vertically but are bent over so as to propagate in the plane of the layer in order subsequently to evaporate at the edges of the wafer. Growth therefore takes place from increasingly germanium-rich layers, it being possible for the germanium gradient to change stepwise or in a continuous fashion.
However, the layers deposited by this xe2x80x9crelaxed substratexe2x80x9d process either have a relatively, low ( less than 50%) degree of germanium enrichment or have an unacceptable density of emergent dislocations for applications in microelectronics.
Thus, the article entitled xe2x80x9cStepwise equilibrated graded GexSi1xe2x88x92x buffer with very low threading dislocation density on Si (001), by G. Kissinger, T. Morgenstern, G. Morgenstern and H. Richter, Appl.Phy.Lett. 66(16), Apr. 17, 1995xe2x80x9d, describes a process in which the sequence of the following layers is deposited on a substrate:
250 nm Ge0.05Si0.95+100 nm Ge0.1Si0.9+100 nm Ge0.15Si0.85+150 nm Ge0.2Si0.8.
After each layer has been deposited, it undergoes in situ annealing in hydrogen at 1095 or 1050xc2x0 C. By way of comparison, similar sequences of layers have been deposited, but without annealing.
A 300 nm layer of GexSi1xe2x88x92x of the same composition as the upper buffer layer is also deposited on the latter.
The specimens which did not undergo intermediate annealing have an emergent-dislocation density of 106 cmxe2x88x922, whereas the specimen which underwent annealing has an emergent-dislocation density of 103xe2x88x92104 cmxe2x88x922.
The article entitled xe2x80x9cLine, point and surface defect morphology of graded, relaxed GeSi alloys on Si substratesxe2x80x9d, by E. A. Fitzgerald and S. B. Samavedam, Thin Solid Films, 294, 1997, 3-10, describes the manufacture of relaxed substrates comprising up to 100% germanium. However, the process employed takes a long time (more than about 4 hours per wafer) and is consequently unattractive from an industrial standpoint. Moreover, this process is not reversible, that is to say it does not allow pure silicon to be deposited on a germanium substrate.
Furthermore, during the fabrication of such relaxed substrates, a surface roughness is observed which increases depending on the deposition conditions and which may have negative defectsxe2x80x94since they are cumulativexe2x80x94that is to say an onset of roughness can but increase during definition.
In one embodiment a process for obtaining, on a substrate of single-crystal silicon, a Si1xe2x88x92xGex layer which has a high germanium content and which may be pure germanium, having a low emergent-dislocation density, and vice versa is described.
In one embodiment a process for obtaining a Si1xe2x88x92xGex layer having a high germanium content and a very low surface roughness is described.
In one embodiment a process as defined above which may be implemented in an industrial reactor, for example an industrial single-wafer reactor is described.
According to the invention the process for obtaining a layer of single-crystal germanium or of single-crystal silicon on a substrate of single-crystal silicon or of single-crystal germanium, respectively, includes the chemical vapour deposition of a layer of single-crystal silicon or germanium using a mixture of germanium and silicon precursor gases, the said process being characterized in that:
a) in the case of deposition of the layer of single-crystal germanium, the deposition temperature is gradually reduced in the range of 800xc2x0 C. to 450xc2x0 C., preferably 650 to 500xc2x0 C., while at the same time gradually increasing the Ge/Si weight ratio in the precursor gas mixture from 0 to 100%; and
b) in the case of deposition of the layer of single-crystal silicon, the deposition temperature is gradually increased in the range of 450 to 800xc2x0 C., preferably 500 to 650xc2x0 C., while at the same time gradually increasing the Si/Ge weight ratio in the precursor gas mixture from 0 to 100%.
Any Si and Ge precursor gas, such as SiH4, Si2H6, SiH2Cl2, SiHCl3, SiCl4, Si(CH3)4 and GeH4, may be used in the process.
The preferred precursors are SiH4 and GeH4.
As is well known, the precursor gases are preferably diluted in a carrier gas such as hydrogen. The dilution factors may vary from 10 to 1000.
The chemical vapour deposition preferably takes place at low pressure, typically 8 kPa, but may also be carried out at atmospheric pressure by adapting the gas phases.
It has been determined that a pressure of about 8 kPa (60 torr) gave the best compromise between a high growth rate of the layers and deposition control.
Again preferably, the surface of the substrate is subjected to a preparation step prior to deposition.
This preparation step may conventionally be a surface cleaning step, for example any process in the liquid or gas phase which cleans the silicon surface of the metallic and organic residues, such as the conventional solutions SC1 (NH4OH+H2O2) and SC2 (HC1+H2O2) or else H2SO4+H2O2. In all cases, the cleaning is completed by a phase of treatment using a dilute HF aqueous solution followed by rinsing in water.
Preferably, the process is carried out in stages of defined duration during which the temperature and the gas fluxes are modified linearly as a function of time. In other words, in the case, for example, of deposition of a layer of pure germanium on a silicon substrate, the temperature is lowered from the maximum deposition temperature to the minimum temperature in stages of defined duration during which the temperature is reduced linearly from a first value to a second value. During this same time interval, the Ge/Si weight ratio in the precursor gas mixture is increased linearly, for example by varying the fluxes of the precursor gases. The last stage is that for which the minimum deposition temperature has been reached and in which the Ge/Si weight ratio of the precursor gas mixture is 100/0. The duration of this last stage depends on the desired thickness of the layer of pure germanium.
The number and duration of the stages may be determined depending on the total duration of the deposition process and on the optimization of the quality of the material deposited. In general, a total deposition time of approximately one hour is chosen, which corresponds to an industrially acceptable compromise between the quality of the material deposited (minimum surface roughness for a given total thickness) and total deposition time.
It is possible, if desired, to insert, between each variable-temperature and variable-flux stage, fixed-temperature but variable-flux deposition stages, or vice versa.
In order to grow pure Si on pure Ge, all that is required is to carry out the process as before but by reversing the directions of the temperature and flux variations.
It is therefore possible, to produce successive stacks of layers of pure germanium and of pure silicon on a substrate of single-crystal germanium or of single-crystal silicon.
Preferably, the process is carried out in a single-wafer reactor which allows greater controllability of the parameters (more rapid change of the gas compositions and of the temperature). However, any other suitable device such as, for example, a furnace may be used.
In another embodiment the above deposition steps (a) and (b) are carried out alternately in order to obtain a multilayer product having alternate layers of single-crystal silicon and single-crystal germanium.
In another embodiment multilayer products may be formed which include, for example, stacks of the following structures:
Si(single crystal)/Si1xe2x88x92xGex (x varying from 0 to 1)/Ge (single crystal); Si(single crystal)/Si1xe2x88x92xGex (x varying from 0 to 1)/Si1xe2x88x92yGey (y varying from 1 to 0)/Si(single crystal); Si(single crystal)/Si1xe2x88x92xGex (x varying from 0 to 1)/Ge(single crystal)/Si1xe2x88x92yGey (y varying from 1 to 0)/Si(single crystal); Ge(single crystal)/Si1xe2x88x92xGex (x varying from 1 to 0)/Si(single crystal); Ge(single crystal)/Si1xe2x88x92xGex (x varying from 1 to 0)/Si1xe2x88x92yGey (y varying from 0 to 1)/Ge(single crystal); Ge(single crystal) /Si1xe2x88x92xGex (x varying from 1 to 0) /Si(single crystal)/Si1xe2x88x92yGey (y varying from 0 to 1)/Ge(single crystal); and combinations of these stacks.
The multilayer products generally have an emergent-dislocation density xe2x89xa6103/cm2.
Although the process described above limits the appearance of a rough surface, it is again desirable to reduce the surface roughness of the Si1xe2x88x92xGex deposited.
Thus, the wafer specimens obtained by the process described above may have two surface roughnesses, namely a low roughness in the form of xe2x80x9chachured fabricsxe2x80x9d of low amplitude ( less than 60 nm) and a high roughness ( greater than 100 nm peak-to-valley) of longer wavelength.
In order to eliminate this roughness, a chemical-mechanical polishing step may be provided which eliminates either only the high roughness or all of the roughness. This chemical-mechanical polishing step may be implemented on Si1xe2x88x92xGex layers for all germanium concentrations. Thus, the chemical-mechanical polishing may be carried out on a pure Ge or Si layer or on any intermediate layer before the pure Ge or Si layer is deposited. Furthermore, it is preferred to carry out this chemical-mechanical polishing stage on an Si1xe2x88x92xGex layer for which x less than 1 or x greater than 0, thereby making it possible to deposit, on the Si1xe2x88x92xGex layer thus polished, by means of the process described above, relaxed layers of Si1xe2x88x92xGex with increasing Ge or Si concentrations, starting from a deposited material having the same Ge and Si concentration as the polished layer, until a layer of pure Ge or Si is obtained. The final layer thus obtained is practically free of roughness.
Any type of chemical-mechanical polishing conventionally used in silicon technology may be used.
The principle of chemical-mechanical polishing is known and conventional and includes rubbing the wafer to be polished on a tissue imbibed with abrasive, applying pressure and moving this wafer with respect to the tissue. For further details, reference may be made to the Patents. The conjugate mechanical and chemical effects cause molecules of the polished materials to be preferentially removed from the regions in relief and planarize the material to be polished.
The polishing is controlled either in situ by control of polishing data, such as the current for the motors, or ex situ in a qualitative manner by optical or microscopic observations and/or in a quantitative manner by a technique of atomic force microscopy [measurement of the average (rms) or peak-to-valley roughness].
After polishing, encrusted mechanical residues may remain on the surface, which will be removed by mechanical brushing and rinsing.
After this cleaning, the polishing may leave a disturbed surface region and a treatment to regenerate the surface may be necessary. This treatment, which will be of the etching type, must nevertheless be carried out without causing the entire active layer to disappear. Several methods are possible.
It is possible either (i) to etch, by dry or wet etching, the layer or (ii) to oxidize the surface and then dissolve the oxide. Both these means will use the extreme sensitivity of Ge to oxygen (gaseous oxygen or ozone, or ozone dissolved in water, or plasma, etc.), the oxides of Ge being volatile or unstable.
After these treatments, epitaxial growth on the surface may be resumed, particularly using the process of the described above. In this preferred case, the desired surface finish (counting of defects) and therefore a xe2x80x9cguaranteedxe2x80x9d layer, the thickness of which may be adjusted depending on the envisaged application, is therefore immediately obtained. In addition, impurities are trapped by the subjacent dislocation network.
As indicated previously, the technique described above can be applied for any Ge concentration in the Si1xe2x88x92xGex layer and gives very good results in terms of planarity and residual surface defects.
Nevertheless, for Ge concentrations typically above 70%, xe2x80x9cholesxe2x80x9d may appear after polishing, these corresponding to defects which were transferred into the upper layer. The density of these holes is about 104 to 105 df/cm2. These holes are obviously not polished. These defects are probably stacking faults and/or defects associated with a linking, between two orthogonal guide planes ( less than 110 greater than  directions), of the dislocations emitted in order to relax the growing structure. Two types of xe2x80x9cholesxe2x80x9d may exist:
(i) holes which have a depth not exceeding the upper constant-composition layer. In order to obviate these holes, a sufficient thickness of the desired final composition of the upper layer (typically pure Ge) must be deposited and polished until the xe2x80x9cholesxe2x80x9d disappear;
(ii) xe2x80x9cdeeperxe2x80x9d holes in the form of an upside-down pyramid [on a substrate of (100) single-crystal Si]; the apex of the upside-down pyramid lies in the graded-composition layers, usually those with a Ge concentration above 55%. These holes, with sharp rectangular edges, are rounded in various ways by the polishing, but to the detriment of a greater region of extension. In order to limit these holes, one technique includes introducing, into the growth stages above a Ge concentration of 55%, steps in which the composition is constant (typically 300 nm every 10%, thereby increasing the process time per wafer, which time nevertheless remains acceptable). This has the effect of reducing the density of these defects;
(iii) another possibility for limiting the extension of the xe2x80x9cdeeperxe2x80x9d holes includes fabricating a substrate with concentrations of up to about 70% and polishing, cleaning and resuming the growth by increasing the Ge concentration of the layers up to that desired. This may be carried out as many times as necessary. Thus, lower defect densities and a lower extension of these defects are obtained.
This variant of the process has several advantages;
Polishing machines and solutions conventionally used in silicon technology may be used for chemical-mechanical polishing;
Only very little material need be polished, this furthermore appearing as peak-to-valley material (in general about 200 nm). This leaves a great deal of freedom and allows the use of CMP solutions identical to those for silicon;
The disappearance of the xe2x80x9cwork-hardenedxe2x80x9d region after polishing is easy to achieve since compounds of Ge with oxygen are very unstable, i.e. they dissolve in any process containing oxygen (thermal oxidation or plasma-assisted oxidation, dissolution in ozonated water or in chemical solutions which selectively etched Ge, etc.)
It involves xe2x80x9clightxe2x80x9d polishing, that is to say a process with a high degree of freedom in the choice of thickness and of uniformity, if care is taken to initially produce a relatively thick layer to be polished (typically more than twice the peak-to-peak roughness to be removed);
Repeating the epitaxial growth of a layer having the same composition as that which has just been polished will xe2x80x9cguaranteexe2x80x9d the surface and make it possible to continue with other variations (other relaxed or strained layers above it), that is to say the starting surface is one without any roughness;
This technique may be extended to the reverse situation, that is to say to the formation of Si layers on Ge.